Slider for a slide fastener

ABSTRACT

A slider for a slide fastener is constructed with a pair of wings joined at their front end portions by a spacer post and provided with lateral edge flanges extending to their rear portions. The edge flanges on one wing project toward the edge flanges on the other wing to define tape slots therebetween; surfaces on the edge flanges are arranged to control a minimum dimension for the tape slot and to absorb compressive forces on the rear portions of the wings.

United States Patent 1191 Moertel 5] June 25, 1974 SLIDER FOR A SLIDE FASTENER 2,681,492 61954 Lackritz 24/205.15 E

. 3,009,226 ll 1961 J h [75] Inventor: gorge Conneautvlne, 3,054,158 9/1962 $051 5: 24/205.14

, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Asslgnee' Textron Provldence 513,424 5/1955 Canada 24/205.15 [22] Filed: Sept. 18, 1972 [21] APPL No; 289,853 Primary ExaminerBernard A. Gelak 57 ABSTRACT [52] 0.8. CI 24/205.l5 R 511 1m. (:1 A44b 19/26 A sllder 9? a shde cmstmFted 8 [58] Field of Search 24/205.15 R, 205.15 E, end pomms by a post and prov1ded with lateral edge flanges extending 24/205. 14 R to then rear portlons. The edge flanges on one wmg he edge flanges on the other wing to [56] References Cited project toward t define tape slots therebetween; surfaces on the edge 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS flanges are arranged to control a minimum dimension for the tape slot and to absorb compressive forces on arms y 2,181,142 1 H1939 Marinsky 24/205.I5 R the rear poruons of the wmgs 2,312,284 2/l943 Schaaff 24/205.14 9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures I SLIDER FOR A SLIDE FASTENER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to slide fasteners and in particular to a slider for such slide fasteners.

2. Description of the Prior Art U.S. Pat. No. 2,542,453, No. 2,568,163 and No. 2,901,803 are representative of prior art sliders having spaced parallel wings forming a Y-shaped channel by means of a connecting spacer therebetween. However, none of the prior art devices have been directed toward the specific design of the tape slot but rather have utilized side flanges on the wings which are merely contacting surfaces for the tapes and which are defined by flat unbroken surfaces.

In slider design the tape slot opening is extremely important to overall slide fastener performance. Generally, a compromise must be made between ease of operation and performance parameters, such as slide fastener endurance and the ability of the slider to close the chain under lateral load. It has long been obvious that on woven chain in particular, the latter two attributes were enhanced by reducing the tape slot opening, however, the loss of clearance between slider flange and tape leads to restrictively high ease of operation values. This situation is further complicated by the fact that normal manufacturing techniques employed in slider assembling and finishing operations may act to reduce the tape slot opening between .002 and .004 inch. Additional finishing operations in garment manufacture and subsequent dry cleaning may further reduce the tape slot opening.

Because of the influence of these factors acting to reduce the tape slot it has been standard practice to manufacture sliders with a greater tape slot opening than is desirable from the standpoint of the above mentioned performance parameters; this in order to still maintain an adequate ease of operation after the closing influences have reduced the tape slot opening. However, because of the sporadic incidences of these reducing factors and the inconsistency of their application, sliders which were cast with identical tape slot openings may when installed in the garment, have as much as 0.005 inch difference in their tape slot openings. This dimension represents the larger opening as being over 25 .percent wider than the more tightly reduced tape slot opening.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is summarized in that a slider for a slide fastener is constructed to include a pair of wings disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other, each of the wings having front and rear portions, a spacer disposed between and interconnecting the front portions whereby the wings define a generally Y- shaped channel, first and second pairs of opposing flanges projecting respectively from opposite lateral edges of the wings toward each other and terminating in spaced relation to each other to define slot means therebetween, first means on the opposing flanges defining a minimum dimension for the slot means, and second means on the opposing flanges increasing the dimension of the slot means at the rear portions of the wings.

An object of the present invention is to control the tape slot dimension in the slider of a slide fastener.

It is another object of this invention to maintain optimum performance characteristics in a slide fastener without sacrificing ease of operation of the slider.

The present invention has another object in that surfaces on the wing flanges of a slider for a slide fastener are varied to vary the dimension of the tape slot between such flanges.

A further object of the present invention is to construct a slide fastener slider with wing flanges shaped to assure proper dimensions therebetween for the slide fastener tapes and contoured to reduce binding and wear on the adjacent portions of such tapes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a partial plan view of a slide fastener embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the slider of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 with parts in section;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section similar to FIG. 3 but showing an improvement thereon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is embodied in a slide fastener, indicated generally at 10 in FIG. I, which includes a pair of carrier tapes l2 and 14 having interlocking elements I6 and I8 along their adjacent edges. A pull tab 20 is attached to a slider, indicated generally at 22, which is longitudinally moved along the interlocking elements 16 and 18 for engaging and disengaging the same.

As is illustrated in FIG. 2, the slider 22 has a pairof spaced parallel plates or wings 24 and 26 joined at a front end by a spacer or neck 28 which terminates in an apex 30. As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, the apex 30 is notched in a plane normal to the plane defined by the interlocking elements 16 and 18 whereby the apex 30 has a flattened V shape as viewed in side elevation.

A side flange 32 extends perpendicularly from the lateral edge of the wing 26 in a direction toward the opposite wing 24. As is shown in FIG. 3, the flange 32 extends from the rear of wing 26 to a point which is slightly spaced from a perpendicular line defined by the apex 30; the flange 32 conforms to the shape of the lateral edge of the wing 26 and thus is angulated intermediate its ends. The front portion of flange 32 is uniform in thickness and and has a substantially planar surface 34 while the rear portion of flange 32 is tapered to present a linearly sloping surface 36 which decreases the height dimension (as viewed in FIG. 2) of flange 32 from its mid-point to the rear of wing 26.

The side flange 32 is illustrated as the left flange in FIG. 3 and the right flange 42, which is substantially identical to left flange 32 and includes a planar surface 44 and a linearly sloping surface 46, is not being described in detail for the sake of brevity. Similarly, for the sake of brevity, the side flanges 52 and 62 with their planar surfaces 54 and 64 and linearly sloping surfaces 56 and 66, respectively, are not being described in detail but merely identified by the above corresponding arrangement or reference numerals. Thus, the two left flanges 32 and 52 are oppositely disposed to each other and the two right flanges 42 and 62 are oppositely disposed to each other. The gap between the opposed flanges 32 and 52 (as well as 42 and 62) defines a tape slot or opening through which the adjacent portion of the carrier tape 12 (and 14) is located.

In accordance with the present invention, the tape slot dimension adjacent the throat portion of the slider, i.e., between planar surfaces 34 and 54 (as well as 44 and 64) is maintained at a minimum so as to be small enough to assure optimum performance characteristics of the slide fastener. At the same time, the tape slot dimension increases between the sloping surfaces 36 and 56 (as well as 46 and 66) so that such dimension at the rearmost part of the slider is large enough to absorb compressing forces on the wings 24 and 26 without deleterious effect on the ease of slide fastener operation.

A particular advantage of the present invention is that the tape slot dimension is maintained at a minimum in the area adjacent to the spacer 28 and its apex 30 while maintaining the cantilever mounting of the wings 24 and 26. Accordingly, such adjacent area is substantially reduced when compared with conventional sliders whereby the possibility of binding with the carrier tapes l2 and 14 is similarly reduced. Of course, since the possible contact area between the carrier tapes and the flange surfaces is substantially reduced, any wear of the carrier tapes and threads thereof is also substantially reduced.

The slider illustrated in FIG. 4 has an additional feature in that each side flange is chamfered along its inner edge; accordingly, identical reference numerals designate identical parts which have been described above in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and are not being described again while correlated reference numerals in the 100 series designate similar parts and new parts. For instance, the side flange 132 has planar and linearly sloping surfaces 134 and 136 and an inner edge of flange 132 is chamfered to define a canted surface 138. As is apparent from FIG. 4, the canted surface 138 has a longitudinal dimension less than the longitudinal dimension of the flange 132 and extends along both the planar and sloping surfaces 134 and 136. The canted surface 138 is angularly disposed relative to the plane defined by the wing 26 and to the plane defined by the planar surface 134.

The right flange 142 (as viewed in FIG. 4) is similarly constructed with a planar surface 144, a linearly sloping surface 146 and a canted surface 148. It is to be understood that the slider of FIG. 4 includes correlated components on the wing 24; thus, flanges 152 and 162, planar surfaces 154 and 164, sloping surfaces 156 and 166, and canted surfaces 158 and 168 are not shown on the drawing but merely identified with correlated reference numerals.

Relative movement between the slider and the interlocking elements 16 and 18 during slide fastener operation is facilitated because of the canted surfaces 138, 148, 158 and 168 which cooperate with the apex 30 to produce a smooth transition between engaged and disengaged conditions of the interlocking elements 16 and 18. From FIG. 4, it is apparent that not only shape edges have been eliminated in the slider channel through which the interlocking elements pass but the flange components have been shaped to present a smooth, streamlined channel which virtually eliminates binding between the slider and the chain.

The slide fastener chain, which consists of the tapes l2 and 14, and the interlocking elements 16 and 18, is oftentimes subject to lateral stress when installed in a garment which is undersized for the wearer and/or which undergoes unusual movements by the wearer. The canted surfaces 138, 148, 158 and 168 thus permit relative movement of the chain under lateral tension whereby the chain conformingly cooperates with the canted surfaces to assure smooth slider operation without binding.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many modifications, variations and changes in detail, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown on the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A slider for a slide fastener comprising a pair of wings disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other,

each of said wings having front and rear portions and lateral edges,

a spacer disposed between and interconnecting the front portions of said wings whereby said wings define a generally Y-shaped channel,

first and second pairs of opposing flanges projecting respectively from opposite lateral edges of said wings toward each other and terminating in spaced relation to each other to define slot means therebetween,

first means on said opposing flanges defining a con stant minimum throat portion of said slot means, and

second means on said opposing flanges defining a linearly increasing portion of said slot means in which the dimension of said slot means increases linearly from said minimum throat portion continually to the rear of said slot means.

2. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim I wherein said first means comprises a front surface on each of said flanges.

3. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 2 wherein said front surface is a planar surface.

4. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second means comprises a rear surface on each of said flanges.

5. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 4 wherein said rear surface is a planar sloping surface.

6. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 5 wherein said first means comprises a front planar surface on each of said flanges joining the rear sloping surface on each of said flanges.

7. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 6 wherein said front and rear surfaces are chamfered to define a canted surface on an inner edge of each of said flanges.

8. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 7 wherein said canted surface is angularly disposed relative to a plane defined by said front planar surface.

9. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 7 wherein each of said flanges comprises angled sections conforming to the shape of its corresponding lateral edge and wherein said canted surface extends along adjacent inner portions of said angled sections. 

1. A slider for a slide fastener comprising a pair of wings disposed in spaced parallel relation to each other, each of said wings having front and rear portions and lateral edges, a spacer disposed between and interconnecting thE front portions of said wings whereby said wings define a generally Y-shaped channel, first and second pairs of opposing flanges projecting respectively from opposite lateral edges of said wings toward each other and terminating in spaced relation to each other to define slot means therebetween, first means on said opposing flanges defining a constant minimum throat portion of said slot means, and second means on said opposing flanges defining a linearly increasing portion of said slot means in which the dimension of said slot means increases linearly from said minimum throat portion continually to the rear of said slot means.
 2. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first means comprises a front surface on each of said flanges.
 3. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 2 wherein said front surface is a planar surface.
 4. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second means comprises a rear surface on each of said flanges.
 5. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 4 wherein said rear surface is a planar sloping surface.
 6. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 5 wherein said first means comprises a front planar surface on each of said flanges joining the rear sloping surface on each of said flanges.
 7. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 6 wherein said front and rear surfaces are chamfered to define a canted surface on an inner edge of each of said flanges.
 8. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 7 wherein said canted surface is angularly disposed relative to a plane defined by said front planar surface.
 9. A slider for a slide fastener as claimed in claim 7 wherein each of said flanges comprises angled sections conforming to the shape of its corresponding lateral edge and wherein said canted surface extends along adjacent inner portions of said angled sections. 